Did a massive solar storm blow up deep-sea mines during the Vietnam War? | Smart News

On August 4, 1972, dozens of mines seemed to voluntarily explode in Hon La, Vietnam. The weapon was planted here as part of an American plan to block North Vietnam from maritime trade during the Vietnam War, Pocket Money, and had to be blown up in front of the ship. But in the summer of 1972, US troops did not see a ship that might have pulled a mine.

Becky Ferreira Motherboard, A new discipline has been adopted in the journal. Space weather We presented possible solutions to this mysterious exhibition. According to the researchers, the mine was triggered by a powerful solar storm, causing a magnetic sensor in the mine and causing an unexpected explosion.

This new study is based in part on the confidential documents of the Navy documents. "It is buried in the Vietnam War Archives for a long time," the researcher said. A naval officer immediately began an investigation of the unexplained explosion and soon suspected that the solar activity was the killer.

Brett Carter ConversationMost of the random floating mines were "self-influential sea mines" designed to detect changes in the magnetic field caused by passing ships. While it was well-known that solar activity could destroy Earth's magnetic field in the 1970s, naval officials wanted to make sure that the mine could be triggered by solar activity. They concluded with experts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Space and Environment Research Institute and concluded with a "high probability" that the mine was started by an intense solar storm.

This new study, led by Delores Knipp of the University of Colorado, confirms this assessment. The researchers explained that on the day leading up to the explosion, the black spot area known as MR 11976 spewed out "a series of brilliant flares, vigorous particle enhancement and geocentric emissions". The release of plasma and magnetic fields from the "corona mass ejection" or the massive expulsion sun reached the Earth in just 14.6 hours. Generally GizmoGeorge Dvorsky, it will take 1-2 days to hit the Earth's magnetic field. The researchers turned this rate into two initial stimuli, "eliminating the interplanetary path" for ultra-fast emissions.

Only North Vietnam was not affected by the solar storm. Scientists from various parts of the Philippines, Brazil and Japan also paid attention to the magnetic fields of the atmosphere. On August 4 and 5, 1972, utility companies in the United States and Canada reported mild to severe electricity disturbances, and there were telephone and telegraphic outages on cables connecting Illinois and Iowa.

Researchers say the 1972 incident could be a "Carrington class," referring to the massive solar storm that occurred in 1859. At the Carrington event, named after Richard Carrington, the British astronomer who first realized solar activity caused a geomorphic collapse on Earth. "Southern lighting looked north like Santiago in Chile, but the northern lights were reported far south, like Cuba and Honolulu," says Richard A. Lovett. Geographic country. In the United States, fireworks burst in telegraph equipment and fire sometimes occurs.

These events can be catastrophic if our lives are too complex in today's technology and can lead to massive power loss and GPS and satellite communications disturbances. So using modern modeling to better understand solar storms like in 1972 can prepare for similar events in the future.

"In our opinion, the storm is a scientific review that deserves to be a big challenge for the space weather community," the researchers conclude.

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